Curtain
by IDreamInWords
Summary: In the glittering world of red carpets and divas, murder strikes down the leading lady, Miyu Kouzuki. As Detective Kanata Saionji delves deeper into the case, the curtain rises on a tale of twisted plots and intricate deceit.
1. Opening Night

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I am tired of disclaimers… How many times am I supposed to rub salt into my own wounds? T.T_

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_**~*Opening Night*~**_

Miyu Kouzuki had been murdered. It was on all TV networks.

Kanata paused over his boost-me-up cup of coffee as her smiling face materialized on the widescreen wall-mounted LED TV in a brilliant splash of colors. Miyu Kouzuki, the leading diva of Japanese Film Industry, had been murdered. How uproarious.

Kanata sighed. No doubt, he would be roped in into this pretty soon. Already the ubiquitous hum of voices was gaining in volume as more tired late-nighters perked up at the mention of the word 'murder' and honed in on the newsreader on-screen. Heads turned in his direction as the whispers and murmurs turned from surprise to "you know…"

Yeah, yeah, nothing new there. _Everyone_ knew that he was a childhood friend of the actress'. The 'secrecy' of the 'secret' hadn't been helped by the center page fold-out poster of the actress' wedding in the two year old edition of _Glamor_, featuring the actress arm-in-arm with her husband, and Kanata off to the side in the customary position of a close-friend-of-the-bride. It had been quite a field day of ribbing and probing at his office when the Crime Investigation's Chief's secretary had brought the magazine to office and squealed out how "Saionji-san is in the photo with Miyu Kouzuki!"

What everyone _didn't_ know, however, was that her wedding had also been the _last_ time he had met her. Quite understandable, when you figure in the fact that he had been in love with her, and had been, in fact, turned down by her a mere month before her marriage. He just didn't feel like hanging around watching her with another man if he could help it, you know?

What _wasn't_ quite understandable, however, or expected, was how _little _he was affected by the sudden news of her death literally looming upon his face in a 41 inch by 24 inch dazzling still-shot on the widescreen LED TV.

_What do you know, time does heal all wounds after all, huh?_

Kanata threw back his head and chugged down his coffee like a shot of tequila. Already, he could feel the eyes of the entire Crime Investigation Department boring holes into his back. Some of the more solicitous ones shuffled over to him, with their tonics of healing words.

"You okay, Kanata?"

"Someone get him some beer…"

"Don't take it too hard, man."

"Chin up, Saionji."

"Listen, these things happen…"

Meaningless words, because Kanata wasn't in shock, wasn't in pain and wasn't in denial. What he was feeling was more of a she's-dead?-oh…-I-see,-now-where-was-I?

"Guys, I'm alright," he announced, pushing off from his desk and heading towards the restrooms. He just needed a wake-up splash to his face. It was bordering on one in the morning and he still had to file in his report on the Yamada case that was closed two days ago.

Santa cornered him in the men's room. Just as Kanata had known he would.

For a moment, he regarded him with a frown, before opening his mouth. "Kanata, I know something's not right. You can't fool me. You really okay?"

Kanata sighed. _Why_ did Santa always think he had him figured out? Because, as it was, he was always _so_ wrong. "Lay off, Santa. I am _fine_."

Anyone who knew Santa would also know that that was NOT the end of the matter. "But she was your close friend! You two were together for twelve years!" Friendships mattered a lot to Santa, for he had had very few while growing up.

Kanata, however, was least interested. All he wanted was to finish his report and get. To. BED. "Well, not so close apparently, if my lack of grief is to be believed." He turned the tap on and splashed his face and neck, getting the water into his eyes. Feeling better, he swiped off a couple of tissue papers from the dispenser and began wiping off.

Santa stared at him with narrowed eyes for a long minute. Finally, he asked in a grave voice, "What are you not telling me?"

Kanata raised an eyebrow at Santa's sudden assumption. So, the great detective Kurosu thought he could play mind games with him? Well, let him try…

He quirked a smirk and replied with a wave of his hand, already moving off towards the door, "Maybe everything. Or maybe nothing at all. Pick whichever you want."

...

He was right.

The very next day, he was called into the Crime Investigation's Chief's office. The Chief was a mostly-bald man with chestnut colored hair and a thick burgundy moustache. He loved to parade in the old-fashioned stereotypical detective get-up and was accordingly donning a wide-brimmed beige fedora hat with a matching long overcoat. A dark wool muffler was slung around his neck, presumably protecting him from the sweltering midsummer's heat.

"Saionji," he began, his moustache ruffling, "I assume you have heard the news about the crime incident reported yesterday night?"

_Who hadn't? _"Yes, Sir," Kanata dutifully replied.

"Then I take it that you know why you're here, don't you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. You should know why I chose you. I want you to consider your acquaintanceship with the victim as a tool to get closer to information. Don't let your emotions get in the way. You did exceptionally well in the Yamada case, Saionji. I expect nothing less this time as well. Do you understand?"

'What a ruthless sadist,' Kanata thought. Nevertheless, the Chief was a man not to be crossed, and so Kanata gave him his quota of…

"Yes, Sir."

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_o.O… A new genre for me… Hope it turns out well! _

_Review please~ ^o^_


	2. Act One, Scene One: Duplicity

**_Disclaimer:_**_ It would probably be fun to own the ghost of Kebarihyon, hmm? ;) Eh, anyway, characters not mine, blah blah and so on... _

_Also, I don't know much about forensic science except for what Google search decided to throw at me, so I apologize for any discrepancies. However, since I have built my plot around the information that I gleaned from online resources, I won't be making any changes, or else the plot will fall apart. =.=" So, err... Just assume that the 'facts' in this story are really so. Ehehe...he.. *sweatdrop*  
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_**~*Act One, Scene One: Duplicity*~**_

"_Ne ne, Kanata, how do I look?"_

"_Like the ghost of Kebarihyon."_

"_WHAAT!"_

She did look like the ghost of Kebarihyon right now, no offence meant. A bloody and brutal death usually tended to do that to people.

Kanata stared at what had until recently been a smiling flirting young woman of twenty six years of age. How strange that she was lying so still now… He could never have imagined Miyu Kouzuki ever being still. Or silent.

"_Miyu, shut up."_

"—_en, she said that Yokimori-sensei was secretly going out with Chiaki ever since they met at the an—"_

"_Miyu, SHUT UP!"_

Behind him, he could hear Santa retching. The guy had no stomach for the gruesome. It made Kanata wonder as to why Santa joined Crime Investigation in the first place.

Ignoring the gagging sounds from behind, Kanata pulled out his little black book and carefully began jotting down a description of her dead body. Whoever had killed her had spared no mercy towards her pretty face. The entire right side of her face had been bludgeoned in, the caked blood and clumps of her hair morphing her face into a nightmare. The left side of her face and the rest of the body were bloated and blue – saturated with excess moisture, the cause for which was as yet unknown. Her left eye, one of a pair of those uniquely emerald eyes, had been gouged out, leaving a ghastly hollow socket behind.

Kanata narrowed his eyes in distaste. It was a sad example of a cruel death.

The tip-tap of heels alerted him to the rapid approach of Dr. Tenchi, and he turned to face her with a charming smile on his face.

"Hello, Doctor. So what have you got for me?"

Nanami Tenchi eyed the man before her coolly, not in the least bothered by his snide tone or handsome looks. "Saionji-san." She nodded in acknowledgement, before sweeping past him and around the examination table to a desk in the corner. She placed her clipboard next to her laptop and checked her schedule before turning around and marching back out of the room.

"If you want to hear what I have to say, detective, then come along. I don't have the time to loiter." She threw back off-handedly.

Kanata raised his eyebrows at her retreating back before he shrugged and followed.

"So… spill your stuff."

Dr. Tenchi rolled her eyes before 'spilling'. "From the looseness of muscles and low core temperature, I would estimate time of death to be around 35 to 48 hours. Of course, I would have to run entomological tests on the body before I can confirm. That is going to take some time."

"What about the DNA test?"

"I have already taken samples. The test is underway, the results should be ready in four days."

"Fair enough. What about the cause of death?"

"Cause of death – cerebral hemorrhage, presumably due to severe injuries inflicted by a blunt weapon. The body had been submerged in water subsequent to death."

"Submerged?"

"Yes, they found her body in the bathtub."

"Bathtub? Was she wearing clothes?"

Dr. Tenchi paused in her brisk stride and turned to frown at him. "She was. And you should know this already. Didn't they tell you at the crime scene?"

"Nope. Haven't been there yet."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You came to look at the body _before_ visiting the crime scene?"

"Yep."

"Against the protocol?"

Kanata shrugged, then supplied charmingly, "Yes, my dear Doctor. Just felt like visiting an old friend first."

"An old friend? Me?"

He smiled at her puzzled expression and reflected with amusement that yes, Dr. Tenchi really wasn't the type to read _Glamor_.

...

Kanata parked his car on the corner of Hoshino Street in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo, home to the glitterati of Tokyo Film Industry, and walked up to the second house up the street.

So this was where she had lived until recently…

"_Uwaaah! I want a biiiig house with an orange roof and a garden full of colors! There will be daisies and roses and daffodils and tulips! And all around the driveway, there will be a million sakura trees!"_

The house in front of him was a sprawling white mansion with a grey slate roof and grey window panes. A short grey concrete driveway extended from the heavy black wrought iron gates to the grey mosaic steps of the house. On either sides of the driveway, a line of Zelkova trees stretched out their mostly bare branches, thinly veiling the sunlight in a light tinge of green.

At least, she struck home about the big part. How easily Fate overrides wishes…

The entire front of the house was currently swathed in a tangle of yellow tapes. Several policemen dressed in their blue uniforms secured the place against trespassers, and a mass of sniffers, officers and forensic experts scurried about sweeping the area.

Kanata made his way up the concrete driveway, flashing his badge at anyone who tried to accost him, Santa only a step behind him. An officer only slightly older than him greeted them at the top of the steps to the porch.

"Detective Saionji and Detective Kurosu? My pleasure. I am Inspector Hikarigaoka, in-charge of this case. I was informed that you two would be coming."

They shook hands, Kanata sizing up the slimly-built blue-eyed blond inspector. Smart, shrewd and really perceptive. That would be a problem, he thought with a sigh. He knew the type; they always tended to believe they were much better than anyone else and always made it a point to be obnoxiously in the way of any investigation best left in the hands of a qualified detective. Being able to work with him hanging around would be tough.

He shrugged mentally and smirked. Why refuse a challenge? If it's gotta be a ride, might as well be a heck of one!

Hikarigaoka was moving already, into the living room and through a door into a long hallway, holding up a small notebook and detailing everything he knew about the case till date. "The alarm was raised by her manager yesterday evening when Ms. Kouzuki failed to appear on the sets of her latest movie in production for two days in a row. According to her manager, Aya Konishi, Ms. Kouzuki was last seen on Wednesday night."

"Two days? Aren't celebrities reported missing if they fail to be seen by paparazzi every five hours?"

Hikarigaoka paused and turned to look at Kanata, unsure if he was joking or not. "No, I don't think it happens that way."

Kanata nodded pleasantly and motioned for him to go on.

The inspector frowned slightly, before returning his attention to his notes and continuing. "The filming had gone on quite late on Wednesday night, and they had been served dinner on the set itself. In the middle of dinner, Ms. Kouzuki had received a call and had excused herself to attend to it. She was seen talking quite urgently on the phone, with plenty of gestures – which, reportedly, isn't unusual for her —"

Still the same, huh? That klutz.

"—before she hurriedly announced that she was heading home for the day. The time was 10:20 pm roughly, give or take a few crucial minutes. We can't be sure, no one checked their watch.

"Her housekeeper, Mr. Shikada, reportedly received a call from her at precisely 10:53 pm that night."

"Precisely?" Kanata interjected. "That's strange. He made a note of the time?"

"According to other sources, he is a very meticulous person and keeps track of times and places quite methodically."

"Huh, imagine that, how convenient." The dryness in Kanata's voice couldn't be more apparent. "Who are these other sources?"

"The gardener and the driver."

"I see." Two people who seldom had cause to enter the house or meet the housekeeper, one tending to the gardens and one to the garage.

Hikarigaoka took this as his cue to go on. Coughing once to clear his throat, he continued. "She had called ahead to say that she wanted all the staff and security out of the house. She demanded the house be perfectly empty by the time she returned, and that everyone could help themselves to a vacation till she informed them to come back."

Kanata raised an eyebrow at this. Curiouser and curiouser.

"According to Mr. Shikada, it was quite a strange request, but nevertheless, they complied. The last one to leave was Mr. Shikada himself. He locked the house – Ms. Kouzuki had a separate set of keys with herself – and left at precisely 11:29 pm. He left alone, there were no witnesses to observe."

Of course, Kanata thought. No one ever observes the meticulous man who spends every moment observing others. How clichéd.

"He didn't hear from Ms. Kouzuki for the next two days. Neither did her manager. When Ms. Kouzuki failed to report for filming on Thursday, Konishi-san called her on her cell phone, then on her house phone and finally visited the house herself, but didn't receive any response. She left several messages for Ms. Kouzuki and let the matter rest for the day. On Friday, that is yesterday, when Ms. Kouzuki was still absent, her manager once again came to this house and once again did not get any response. By evening yesterday, Konishi-san grew quite worried and alerted the police. I was dispatched here promptly, and we broke open the door and entered to find her body in the bath."

"_Broke open_ the door?"

"Yes, the doors were fast shut from the inside. No signs of prior tampering or breaking-in from the outside."

"What about the windows? Balconies?"

"All doors and windows locked from inside. The housekeeper, Mr. Shikada, ensured all was secured around the house before he left."

Suddenly, Santa made his presence known. "What about the chimney?"

The inspector blinked at this sudden input, then frowned and turned towards the wide-eyed detective with his lips pressed tightly together. "This is not a children's fairytale, Detective Kurosu. I would appreciate it if you didn't make light of the case."

Santa flushed and turned his head down. "'t was just an idea…" he mumbled under his breath.

Kanata cast an amused glance at his partner. The guy was learning _some_ tricks of trade, hmm? Turning his attention to the inspector, he asked, "Well, what _about_ the chimney? It _is_ a plausible way in, after all."

Hikarigaoka drew his brows together, obviously displeased with the line of questioning. Nevertheless, he replied, "Not at all. It's too narrow for a person to pass through. They would have to be smaller in girth than 24 inches to be able to crawl through."

"24 inches, huh? Sounds like the body could have crawled in – before bloating up with water, that is."

Two pairs of wide eyes pinned him down, Santa looking horrified and the inspector looking ridiculed.

Kanata raised an eyebrow, before shrugging carelessly. "It was just an observation. After all, the actress' medical profile states that she was quite thin and underweight."

"If you're done listing the impossibilities, Detective Saionji, would you like to take a look at the bath where the body was found?"

Kanata looked into the inspector's irritated scowl, feeling a satisfied smirk tug at his lips. If the blond officer was going to make it difficult for him, he was only too happy to return the favor. "Sure," he motioned with a gracious sweep of his arm, "lead the way, officer."

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_Remember the ghost of Kebarihyon? From episode 45 of the anime, where Miyu and Kanata are pulled into Ruu's interactive Cinderella book? Aww... That was my favorite favorite **favorite** episode... *Goes all googly eyed* ^o^ ^o^ ^o^_

_Anyways, please review, and let me know if I am boring you with the long dialogues... =.="  
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	3. Act One, Scene Two: Guilt

_**Disclaimer:** If I owned Daa! Daa! Daa!, Miyu and Kanata would have REALLY kissed in episode 61. *dissolves into a puddle of anguish at the failed kiss* T.T That episode was so cruel..._

_**To daa3fan: **I know what you mean... Nothing can take the place of the real thing! I would reply to you by PM, but when I try, it says you've disabled PM's... _

_To everyone who wondered if it really was Miyu's body in the last chapter: there's a DNA test, it's gonna make everything clearer! ;)  
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_**~*Act One, Scene Two: Guilt*~**_

His father's call was completely unexpected.

"Oyaji?" Kanata asked dubiously. Who could blame him, they hadn't spoken for two years after all. Come to think of it, it was around the same time as Miyu's wedding when father and son stopped corresponding. Huh, strange…

"KANATA, HOW ARE YOU? Ohohohoho…" His father's loud fake laugh pounded his eardrums.

He really hasn't changed at all, Kanata thought, annoyed. "Old man…" he gritted out, "drop the act. It's not like you really care how I am. So, get to the point." Stupid old man…

"Ah, Kanata, my son. You don't know how this father's heart longs for you, this old man only thinks about you! So why don't you come home and make this old man happy for a few days? Ahahaha…"

Kanata pulled his cell phone away from his ear and stared at it flatly. Fatherly love? Bullshit. What the heck was the stupid old man trying to pull now? Placing his phone back against his ear, he stated in a flat voice, "Stop with the nonsense, stupid old man. What do you want? I have to get back to work in five minutes, and if you don't spill now, I won't pick up your call again."

The boisterous fake laughter echoing from the other end of the line abruptly stopped. There was silence for some time, during which Kanata impatiently tapped his shoe and contemplated hanging up, before his father's voice once again floated through the speaker, sounding strangely contrite. "Kanata, have you seen the newspapers yet?"

Kanata snorted. So that was it. What do you know, the old man kept himself informed of the worldly affairs! Shaking his head exasperatedly, he replied, quite a bit of snide edging his voice, "Yes. And I read that Miyu is dead. And here's something else, Oyaji, something that you won't find in the newspapers yet: I am investigating her death. How's that?"

_Why_ did everyone insist on walking on eggshells around him? Honestly, did he _seem_ like he cared?

There was a pregnant pause on his father's end, and Kanata smugly realized that his father was at a loss for words – probably for the first time in his life.

When his father finally spoke the next time, Kanata suddenly flinched at how broken his voice sounded. Suddenly, all the fake cheeriness in him was gone. "Come home son, it will do you good. Come home, don't you miss your father?"

His throat suddenly felt tight, and it was a while before Kanata could reply. "I am fine, Dad," he said in a quiet voice. "Don't worry about me. I have to get back now. Take care of yourself." And he hung up.

It was strange how the old man could still make him feel so out-of-sorts with just a few words. It wasn't like the whole incident affected him, at least not in a great-emotional-blow way. Yet, the old man could almost make him feel sad. Stupid old man.

He made a mental note to call his old teacher Mizuno-sensei and request her to go visit his father. The company would do him some good. Seriously, stupid old man…

...

"So, what do you make of it?"

"Hmm? It's too early to tell, isn't it?"

Santa pouted, looking quite disappointed.

Kanata looked at the guy, amused. Santa was a guy known for his overactive imagination. It wasn't his forte to hold out till the end of a long investigation. He would always begin to flesh out possibilities from day one, even without any substantial evidence to go upon, and end up installing misinformed preconceptions in his mind. That always hampered his ability to logically examine the facts towards the end of the investigation and consequently, he was always stumped by how Kanata would 'miraculously' solve the case out of 'thin air'.

Not that he minded it, Kanata reasoned, a bumbling fool for a partner only gave him more room to operate.

"Oh yeah," Santa said, perking up suddenly, "the photographs are here. Do you want to take a look?"

Kanata shrugged noncommittally before holding out his hand to take the brown envelope Santa retrieved from his desk. He upturned the envelope and sent a tumble of photographs skittering across his neatly organized desk.

He picked up one at random and there she was. In a large elaborately carved white marble bathtub brimming with water, lay a grotesque purple dead body, its bloated features indiscernible, its long hair trailing over the side of the tub and pooling on the white marble floor like a coil of woven gold. Water had splashed over onto the bathroom floor, soaking the dark-hued rugs and dousing the scented candles around the tub. Waterlogged clothes swam lazily around her decaying body – a pretty blue skirt and a white button-down shirt that had last been seen on the sets of the actress' last movie on Wednesday night. Presumably, she had died that same night, and been left in the bathtub…

An image of a pair startled emerald eyes and blushing cheeks looking back at him from a tiny tiled furo in the old Saionji temple flashed before his eyes and Kanata shook his head to clear it.

He looked at the picture once again, a thousand questions swirling through his mind. How does it feel to know that even after you're dead, there's no one who cares enough to miss you till two full days are gone? Does it hurt? Does it prickle? For a brief moment, Kanata allowed himself to feel thankful that the unfortunate woman never had to find out. She had long been dead before she could know that she had been abandoned…

Where was the actress' husband during all this? The man who had stolen her away from him?

"Creepy, isn't it?" Santa asked in his usual bull-headed fashion, wrinkling up his nose and looking grossed out.

Kanata grunted. "Where is her husband?"

"Seiya Yaboshi-san? He was apparently filming for his next movie in Honolulu. They couldn't get through to him, but they left a message with his PA. He is supposed to check in with us as soon as he can."

"Isn't he going to come down here?"

Santa shrugged. "I suppose so. We will know once he gets in touch with us."

"Hmm. When is Ms. Konishi available?"

"In the afternoon. Around three."

"And Mr. Shikada?"

"Later, at six."

"Hmm… What's the status on the release of Ms. Kouzuki's cell phone records?"

"The legal department is working it out."

Kanata grunted, irritably. "Damn slow, those legal nitpickers."

He stared, once again, at the ugly body in the photograph, contrasting so starkly with the pristine white gleam of the luxurious bathroom and pressed his lips together. Slowly, he put it back with the rest of the pile and shuffled them back neatly into the envelope. He pressed down on the flap of the envelope and paused momentarily, his eyes closing in regret.

'I am sorry, I am sorry for doing this to you.'

...

"Oh, why don't we take it easy? Maybe you could start by telling me a bit about yourself first? Like, why did you decide to join the film industry, Ms. Konishi?"

Kanata frowned. Santa was taking this interview _way_ too unprofessionally.

Aya Konishi sniffled. She dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief and tried to say something, but choked midway on her own tears and all that came out was yet another sob.

Santa tried once more, miserably, "Ah, Ms. Konishi, I am really so sorry for bringing up such bad memories for you again—"

Bad _memories?_ The woman's dead body was found just _yesterday._ There was _no_ way that her manager could have forgotten about it so fast. If that fool Santa didn't stop bumbling, he was going to kick the idiot out and do the interview himself, Kanata thought grumblingly.

"—but any information you could give us would be extremely helpful to us! I'm sure even you want to help us find the cause of Ms. Kouzuki's death! As her manager, you must be really close to her! In fact, I am sure you two were very good friends and— Wah! Ms. Konishi! D-don't cry!

Kanata slapped his hand over his eyes and groaned. Well, that went well. Obviously, Santa wasn't ready yet to take witness interviews. Ignoring the helpless looks Santa was giving him, Kanata leaned forward in his chair and spoke to the discomposed (to put it mildly – _very_ mildly) female in a very disquieting voice, "You're wasting my time."

His voice was so hard and uncaring, that the distraught young woman momentarily stopped crying.

Kanata ploughed on. "You are a manager. Busy people hire you to manage their schedule and to manage it well. I would have thought that you would know not to waste time, but I see that I was wrong. If you had done your job well, if you had made sure Miyu stuck to her schedule, if you had made sure she didn't have to stay back on the set so very late that day, then she might have been asleep at home when the call came at 10:20. She might not have attended that call, she might not have asked her staff to leave her alone and she might not have had to die."

She was looking at him dumbfounded, her tears dried and her eyes wide, and Kanata pushed her that extra inch.

"Ms. Konishi, you wasted her time that day, and you're wasting my time today, and the only person you're helping in both cases is the killer. So, will you answer my questions, or not?"

Trembling from head to toe, Aya Konishi nodded, her eyes glued to Kanata's, and finally brought herself to speak. "I will answer them, detective, I will answer them all. So, please ask me anything you need to."

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_Well... someone suggested a really good plot twist of Kanata being Miyu's murderer, and although at first I was like, "NO WAY!", on second thoughts, it really is a good idea... :D_

_Kanata is always smirking, or shrugging, or sighing... How annoying! And how charming! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 3 3 3 *squeals like a true fangirl* ^o^_

_Now, use your mouse and chase that little sweet link below... Yes, don't let it escape, pin it down with a CLICK! Go on! ^o^ *cheers*  
_


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